Key Difference: Many of us don’t know the difference between city and town. So, we sometimes use the words interchangeably. The terms “city” and “town” are completely different from each other. A city is a large town and it covers important areas of the land. Whereas, a town is an area that is surrounded by rural territory. The town is bigger than a village and smaller than a city. In this tutorial, we will guide you to know the contradictions of these terms with proper explanations.
City: I am now living in New York City.
Town: When will you go to the town?
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City:
A large town.
Generally, a city is considered to have the most important places in an area. It should have particular administrative, legal or historical status based on local law. Let’s see an example to make it clear to you how to use the word “city.” They need to install more city lights. From this statement, we might understand that, someone said that they want more city lights. Here we come up with another example for your reference. Do you enjoy city life? From this question, we might understand that someone asks whether he or she enjoys city life or not.
How Do We Spell the Word City?
The phonetics pronunciation of the word City is ˈsɪti. And this word sounds like the following audio.
Enunciation:
Syllabification refers to the process of division of words into smaller parts. It is commonly known as syllables. With its help, you can easily read and spell the word accurately. Here, you will see how to split the word “City” by syllables.
- The word “City” has two syllables.
- It can be divided into “Cit-y.”
Using “City” in sentences:
- Do you have this city map?
- Oh my god, this is a vast city.
- Many of my relatives live in the city.
- Have you ever visited that city?
- You can see the whole city from this place.
Town:
An area is surrounded by rural territory.
Usually, a town is bigger than a village and smaller than a city. Generally, towns are established based on the population. Let’s see an example to make it clear for you. I am from a small town that you don’t know of. From this statement, we might understand that someone comes from a tiny town. Here we come up with another example for your reference. Mia said this is my hometown. From this statement, we might understand that this is Mia’s hometown.
How Do We Spell the Word Town?
The phonetics pronunciation of the word Town is taʊn. And this word sounds like the following audio.
Enunciation:
Syllabification refers to the process of division of words into smaller parts. It is commonly known as syllables. With its help, you can easily read and spell the word accurately. Here, you will see how to split the word “Town” by syllables.
- The word “Town” has only one syllable.
- It cannot be divided.
Using “Town” in sentences:
- Please give me the map of the town.
- There is an old movie theater in this town.
- We passed through a town at night.
- I saw a town in distance.
- The town has beautiful surroundings.
Compare: City Vs Town
This table will show the contradiction between the words’ City and Town.
| City | Town | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A city is a large, urban area with a huge population. | The town is surrounded by many villages. A town is larger than a village and smaller than a city. |
| Synonyms | Town, municipality metropolis | Township, settlement |
| Antonyms | Country | Country |
| Etymology | Middle English: from Old French cite, from Latin civitas, from civis ‘citizen’. Originally denoting a town, and often used as a Latin equivalent to Old English burh ‘borough’, the term was later applied to the more important English boroughs. | Old English tūn ‘enclosed piece of land, homestead, village’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch tuin ‘garden’ and German Zaun ‘fence’. |
| Examples | We called the city cops. Can you show me the beautiful places in this city? We met in New York city. She comes from a big city. Are you a city girl? | Where is the market in this town? The two towns are separated by a river. This is the best restaurant in this town. She has several friends in the town. The town has a population of five thousand. |
Resources and References:
Resources: Cambridge Dictionary (City, Town), Merriam-Webster (City, Town), Collins Dictionary (City, Town), Dictionary.com (City, Town)
Reference: Dictionary.Cambridge.org[1], Merriam-Webster.com[2], CollinsDictionary.com[3], Dictionary.com[4].